OAF News

First Recipient of the Laura Ciruls Painting Award Announced

Toronto – February 16, 2012 – The Ontario Arts Foundation is pleased to announce a new visual arts award. TheLaura Ciruls Painting Awardwill be given annually to recognize an Ontario based painter who is past the early stages of their professional career.

In her work, Jinny Yu attempts simultaneously to scrutinize conventions of painting and to explore new possibilities with the medium. Oscillating between the fields of the abstract painting and the object, her works seeks out aspects of painting beyond the pictorial space. She strives to depict that which is beyond the image and deliberately reveals the gestural aspect of painting as praxis.

Ms Yu was unanimously selected from a field of nominees at the conclusion of the Ontario Arts Council's Visual Artists: Mid-Career grant program's jury. The program officer convened a discussion to solicit nominations for the award, and candidates were nominated from the list of applicants in the current grant competition. The jury selected one laureate for the award. The jury remarked that Jinny's painting ìis conceptually radical and pushes the conventions of painting beyond the image. She has a strong sculptural sense, and uses her art to realize her identity as a ìglobal nomadî.î

The Laura Ciruls Painting Awardwas established by Laura Ciruls, a professional graphic and web designer, as well as a traditional acrylic and watercolour painter. Through a bequest, Laura set up the Laura Ciruls Painting Award, to recognize artists like herself, who were contributing to the development of painting in Ontario.

The Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) Established in 1991 as a public charitable foundation, the Foundation pays out over $2 million annually in support of the arts.

The Ontario Arts Council(OAC) is the province of Ontario's primary funding body for professional arts activity. Since 1963, the OAC has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts and artists for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians.